Education News

A Labour MP has called for “buffer zones” to be established outside schools as anti-vaccine protesters target pupils. Stella Creasy said people did not have an “open, uncontested right” to impose their views on others. Anti-vaxxers have targeted schools with protests and legal threats since coronavirus vaccines began being rolled out to 12- to 15-year-olds in England.Some anti-vaxx groups on the messaging service Telegram have been mobilising members to visit areas around schools to approach teenagers to discuss vaccines and spread misinformation.Ms Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, told Politics Home she thought the government should introduce buffer zones measures around schools amid the protests. This would give local authorities more power to prevent anti-vaccine protesters from gathering in the vicinity.“Children should be able to get to school in peace,” the Labour MP told Politics Home.“For me the parallels are very clear with the buffer zone argument we’ve had about abortion clinics.”Ms Creasy added: “You don’t have an open, uncontested right to foist your views on other people, especially when it’s very clear these kids have said no, and these adults are continuing.”The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has suggested headteachers who believe protests could be held outside their school over participation in the Covid vaccination programme should contact police to help manage the situation.One headteacher in Nottingham said he had been in contact with police last month after staff received threatening messages and an “unwelcome visitor” came onsite as part of an ongoing campaign against the Covid vaccine rollout to children.Anti-vaxx protesters have also sent headteachers fake NHS “consent checklists” and told them to distribute these to parents, in what one school leader told The Independent was a “very convincing hoax”. Videos on anti-vaxx Telegram groups have also shown people approaching students in uniform to spread misinformation about the vaccine and hand out leaflets. The Department for Education has been approached for comment. More

The average private school fees are 90 per cent higher than spending per state school pupil, according to a new report that found the difference in funding had widened further. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found the gap between private and state school spending has doubled in just over a decade.An education union said it “does stick in the throat” to see the gap widen “to such a huge extent”. Private school fees were on average £13,600 for the last academic year, the IFS found.By comparison, the total spending on state schools per student was £7,100 for the same year, according to the research institute’s report.This meant the average private school pupil had £6,500 – or 91.5 per cent more – spent on them during the 2020-2021 academic year than the average peer at a state school.Around a decade before, the gap was £3,100, or 39 per cent, the IFS found.The research institute said private school fees had grown by more than 20 per cent after inflation since 2009-10.Meanwhile, average spend per state school pupil had dropped by nine per cent in real terms.Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said school budgets have been “hammered” over the past decade and this was “holding children back”.Geoff Barton from the Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL) said: “It is pretty outrageous that the government has cut funding in real terms to schools and colleges over the past decade while independent school fees have increased over the same period.“The funding gap between the two sectors has always been there of course, but the fact it has widened to such a huge extent does stick in the throat.”He added: “It means that while state schools and colleges have been forced to cut back on things like subject choices, pastoral support, and extra-curricular activities – and with secondary class sizes rising – independent schools have been able to improve their provision in all these areas.”The new report comes shortly after Labour pledged to tax private schools £1.7bn in order to fund improvements to state schools at the party’s conference.Luke Sibieta from the IFS, who was the report’s author, said: “Longstanding concerns about inequalities between private and state school pupils, which have come into sharp focus during the pandemic, will not begin to be easily addressed while the sectors enjoy such different levels of resourcing”.The Covid pandemic saw most pupils told to stay at home for extended periods of time twice, while students have also not been able to go into school due to positive tests and isolation. Recent analysis found the gap between remote learning and in-class learning appeared larger in schools with more disadvantaged pupils.The government and charities issued hundreds of thousands of laptops to disadvantaged pupils to support them with remote learning for when they were unable to go into school during the pandemic.But one study suggested a third of disadvanted students did not have access to a device needed for online work between May and November last year. A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government is providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade – £14 billion in total over the three years to 2022-23. This includes a £7.1 billion increase in funding for schools by 2022-23, compared to 2019-20 funding levels.“Next year, funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF) is increasing by 2.8% per pupil compared to 2021-22. The NFF continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts.” More

Schools have been urged to stock up on food ahead of anticipated shortages, with the government accused of “failing” some which have already faced disruption to supplies.One of the largest canteen suppliers in the UK has written to school catering staff advising them they should stock up on frozen and tinned food to ensure that children are properly fed over the winter.ISS supplies 450 schools – according to an email seen by ITV, the company said food availability for school canteens was being impacted by a shortage of HGV drivers as well as a lack of staff and import delays.The email urged catering staff in schools to “top up on long life, dried, tinned and frozen products to ensure that there will always be some form of food available in a worse case scenario”.In a statement, ISS said: “Our priority is always the schools, and the children, whose meals we provide.“We would like to reassure parents and carers that our ability to continue to provide nutritious school meals is not being impacted by the well-publicised shortages of items that the UK is currently experiencing.”It added: “Naturally, we have contingency plans in place to ensure that a good supply of meals remains in place. That contingency planning includes regular communication with our stakeholders during these challenging times for many schools across the country.”Labour and the Lib Dems accused the government of not doing enough over supply chain issues.Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said ministers were “burying their heads in the sand” over problems with the supply chain, which have led to petrol pumps running dry and as well as empty food shelves.Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has written to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi calling on him to urgently meet school caterers, school governors and local councillors in order to discuss the crisis.He said his party had heard of “stark issues” with food shortages.In his letter to Mr Zahawi, Sir Ed criticised the government and its “shocking abduction of leadership”.He wrote: “Across the country, I have heard from Liberal Democrat councillors and schools about some stark issues with food disruption in our schools for our children.“Parents have endured so much and worked so hard during the pandemic but it seems your government has failed them yet again. The least you can do is ensure a hot meal at their school for their children.“For months you and your fellow ministers have been warned about the effects the shortage crisis could have on our economy and our everyday lives, now we see this reality coming true. For you to not have this on your radar is both surprising and a shocking abduction of leadership.”Ms Green said that more HGV drivers must to be recruited and trained to help ease the supply issues. She added: “No school must be left without the food supplies it needs, and no child left going hungry.”Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT headteachers union, said school leaders were “concerned” about the disruption some were facing with supply chain issues.”We’re not hearing widespread disruption from our members but certainly the government does need to take notice of the individual cases that are occurring so that the problem doesn’t become more widespread,” he added.A government spokesperson said there was “no evidence” to suggest widespread supply issues and schools had flexibility to substitute products if particular ingredients were not readily available.They added: “We routinely consider contingency arrangements and expect schools and catering companies supplying them to do the same.“In the event of any disruption to supply, we will work with councils and the sector to ensure warm, nutritious meals can continue to be provided.”Additional reporting from PA More

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said face masks could be made mandatory in England’s schools again – but ruled out a return to the “bubble” system to deal with Covid cases.More than 200,000 pupils were estimated by the government to have missed classes last week due to the coronavirus – up two thirds on the previous week.Mr Zahawi ruled out a return to the “bubbles”, which classes and year groups sent home for ten days if one pupil in a group tests positive for the virus.“I don’t want to return to bubbles,” the minister told Sky News on Thursday. “Because actually you saw the fall off in attendance which really does harm mental wellbeing, mental health of children.”The recently-appointed education secretary added: “I don’t want to return to that. My priority is to protect education and keeps schools open and children at school.”However, Mr Zahawi did confirm that the government’s contingency plan for the winter could see face coverings made mandatory in England’s schools once again.“We have got a contingency plan as you would expect me to do … it contains lots of things, including wearing masks, absolutely,” he said.Despite Mr Zahawi’s reluctance to re-introduce the strictest Covid measures, dozens of schools up are said to be bringing back masks to combat a deal in Covid cases among pupils.Schools across the country – including London, Greater Manchester and Cumbria – have told students to wear masks again in communal areas due to a rise in cases in school or the local area. Some councils, including Devon and Cornwall, have also asked pupils to wear face coverings in schools this term. The government says local public health directors may advise schools to “temporarily reintroduce” stricter measures if there is a “substantial increase” in Covid cases in its setting or they are in local areas targeted for extra support.But Geoff Barton from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) told The Independent: “There is nothing which prevents schools and colleges taking their own decisions to use face coverings as part of their risk management plans, and some may well have decided to do so taking into account the circumstances in their context.” Last month, headteachers told The Independent they were imposing their own stricter versions of the government’s test and trace system in a bid to prevent outbreaks and further disruption.National guidance stopped recommending face masks in communal areas in secondary schools in May, while children have not been required to isolate after being identified as a close contact of a Covid case since August. Earlier this week, ASCL called the latest statistics on Covid-related absences in schools “grim”. More than 100,000 pupils in England were out of school last week with a confirmed case of Covid-19, according to government figures.In total, the government estimated 204,000 pupils in England were absent due to a Covid-related reason. which includes a positive test, suspected case and school closures, on 30 September – a 67 per cent jump compared to two weeks before.The National Education Union’s vice president Louise Atkinson said a growing number of schools had brought back face coverings and social distancing. “We fully support any schools bringing back such measures,” she said.It comes as the education secretary admitted there had been problems with the supply of CO2 monitors being rolled out to schools.Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Zahawi said: “So we’ve had several thousand delivered. By the end of this month we’ll be touching sort of 80-90,000, and then through November, we scale up to all 300,000 will be delivered.”Asked why the delivery had taken so long, the minister said: “I think it’s – obviously I’ve only been in department for two weeks – but I think it’s a combination of supply and making sure we’ve got supply, and then working with schools to see how many they need in each school. But we are ramping up through this month and next month.” More

Gavin Williamson has accused some UK universities of pursuing a “divisive agenda” through actions such as “cancelling national heroes” and “debating statues”.The education secretary said such moves only “widen divisions” in a speech on Thursday. “Although our universities are in the main fantastic communities, we would all admit, like anywhere in society, they are not perfect,” he said.“Whether it is antisemitic incidents, the use of non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of sexual assault, or increasingly casualised workforce or inadequate teaching provision for disabled students, there are genuine injustices that we should strive to get right.”But he added: “Too often, some universities seem more interested in pursuing a divisive agenda.”Mr Williamson said this involved “cancelling national heroes, debating about statues, anonymous reporting schemes for so-called micoaggressions and politicising their curricula”.“Vice-chancellors who allow these initiatives to take place in their name must understand they do nothing but undermine public confidence, widen divisions and damage the sector,” he said.The education secretary has been a vocal supporter of free speech on campus, amid campaigns and conversations over decolonising curriculums, removing controverisal statues and de-platforming speakers over views.Earlier this year, he backed a Oxford College’s decision not to remove a statue of white supremacist Cecil Rhodes, which students have been campaigning for years to have taken down.Mr Williamson also condemned students in another Oxford college who had taken down a picture of the Queen, which they said was an emblem of “recent colonial history”.The National Union for Students told The Independent the education secretary’s involvement in the matter “posed questions” over the government’s commitment to free speech.The education secretary has previously said he was “deeply worried” about the “chilling effect on campuses of unacceptable silencing and censoring”.The government has put forward a bill that would create new requirements for universities and student unions over freedom of speech, with a regulator able to issue fines for any breaches.But unions have accused the government of “exaggerating” the threat to push through these laws and said there was “no evidence” of a freedom of speech crisis at universities. More

The vast majority of nurseries have said they do not get enough funding from the government, according to a poll.In a survey of providers, 95 per cent said government funding for three- and four-year-olds did not cover costs. More than 79 per cent also said the rate of funding for two-year-olds was not enough. Most respondents in the poll by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) – 85 per cent – said they expected to either break even or make a loss this year.The NDNA said their survey showed “underfunding is a growing issue” in the sector, which is facing uncertainty around reduced income, increasing operating costs and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “This is pushing more early years providers into the unsustainable position of operating at a loss,” the charity said in their new report. Purnima Tanuku OBE from the NDNA said the results were the “most shocking” the charity has seen over a decade of member surveys. “Throughout the pandemic, we have highlighted challenges facing nurseries with increased costs and reduced incomes,” the charity’s chief executive said. “But underfunding is a long running issue that must be tackled.”All three- to four-year-olds in England are eligible for 570 free hours of childcare a year, which is often taken as 15 hours a week across 38 weeks. Working families are able to get up to 30 hours a week. For disadvantaged families with a two-year-old child, the government offers 15 hours of funded childcare a week.The government funds 55 per cent of early education and childcare hours across England, according to the NDNA poll. In areas of deprivation, government funding rose to 72 per cent of hours.“The government is the largest purchaser of early education and childcare from providers, and this share is growing according to this survey,” the NDNA said in the report called Stop Underfunding – Start Building Futures. “Any underfunding of these places will have a greater impact on the sustainability of nurseries and the viability of children’s places.”A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We recognise that the pandemic has created challenges for early years providers, which is why we provided significant financial and business support throughout to protect them.”They added: “We have invested more than £3.5bn in childcare in each of the last three years, and we’re making millions more available through our early years recovery work to level up children’s outcomes.” More

Significant disruption to education could still happen this academic year, according to a government minister. Nick Gibb told the education select committee that the government is “trying to avoid” this situation.Children no longer have to isolate after coming into contact with a Covid case, unlike during the last academic year.Hundreds of thousands of students were off school as they were self-isolating as the summer holidays approached.Dr Caroline Johnson, a Tory MP, said during Tuesday’s education select committee: “If you now get coronavirus, you have to isolate for 10 days, which is a maximum of eight days missing school. You’re unlikely to get it a second time.“And then, the children who have been in close contact no longer have to isolate.”She asked whether Mr Gibb believed – given this change and estimates around half of children have already had Covid – there was “going to be any significant disruption to children’s education” this academic year. “I think so,” he replied. “I think there could be. And that is what we are trying to avoid.”The schools minister said: “The figures that you cite about the proportion of children you already have the antibodies is correct.” “That still leaves the other half of the … four million 12 to 15 year olds who don’t have those antibodies, who may contract the virus, who may then be off school.”Also at Tuesday’s committee, MPs heard how the government and England’s exam regulator will set out contingency plans this autumn in case exams have to be cancelled again next year.Ian Bauckham, the interim chair of Ofqual, said there were plans for a joint consultation this autumn to put forward proposals for what should happen if the “unthinkable” happens and exams are disrupted for the third year in a row amid the Covid pandemic.But Mr Gibb insisted the government does not want to cancel exams.“​​We do know that teachers and the school sector does want details of the contingency because they want to know what data they might or might not need to collect should the worst happen and we end up having to cancel exams,” he said. More

Poorer pupils are more likely than ever to miss out on top university courses, experts have warned, as this year’s A-level results widen the gap between private and state schools.The proportion of A-level students given top grades reached a record high, with nearly half achieving an A or above, after exams were cancelled and marks were determined by teachers. But data from regulator Ofqual showed the increase in A grades was 50 per cent higher in independent schools than in secondary comprehensives – prompting fears that this would combine with the record number of university applications to “compound” inequality in the education system.The data also showed that black students, those on free school meals and those living in areas of high deprivation were all less likely to achieve the top A or A* grades than their more privileged peers.The relative success of private schools means state school pupils still trying to pin down a place at university in the weeks ahead could be “elbowed out”, experts warned.Dr Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at Exeter University, said he was worried many students from low-income backgrounds could lose out during the fierce battle for places – including on top courses at “selective” Russell Group and Oxbridge universities.“It is deeply concerning to see widening socioeconomic divides in this year’s A-level results, confirming our worst fears – that the pandemic has exacerbated educational inequalities that were already there,” Dr Elliot Major told The Independent.“On the basis of the results, my worry is that some disadvantaged students won’t get into the highly prestigious courses, and will be elbowed out by those from privileged backgrounds. I also worry whether some [disadvantaged students] who didn’t get the expected grades will get a university place at all.”The gap between the most privileged and least privileged pupils in securing university places has widened, according to data shared by Ucas on Tuesday. The admissions body admitted that the lack of progress in opening up higher education to all was “disappointing”.Ucas said a record number of students (395,770) had secured a place on their first-choice university course – up 8 per cent on last year. The data shows 20.7 per cent of all 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK have secured an undergraduate place, up 2 per cent on last year.However, the most privileged students are doing far better than before at securing university places. Some 48.4 per cent from the most privileged backgrounds have secured an undergraduate place this year – up 6 per cent on last year.Carl Cullinane, head of research at the Sutton Trust education think tank, said there is a danger of pupils from independent schools “pulling away” from those in state schools. “The widening gaps in top grades have obvious knock-on implications for admissions to selective universities and widening participation,” he told The Independent.“We fear it’s likely to have an impact on admissions for disadvantaged students. The scramble for places will be most sharp at the most selective universities. Applications to those universities have shot up this year, so they’re much more competitive than usual.”The proportion of A-level entries awarded an A grade or higher rose to an all-time high after students were given grades determined by teachers, rather than based on external exams. In total, more than two in five (44.8 per cent) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, up by 6.3 percentage points on last year.Although teaching unions hailed the success of students in the face of Covid disruption, dismissing concerns about “grade inflation”, experts fear students from less privileged backgrounds won’t be able to take advantage of this year’s record results.Private schools have seen an absolute increase in A or A* grades of 9.3 per cent this year, compared to 6.2 per cent among secondary comprehensives. The gap in achieving A-level grades between candidates who are black, receive free school meals, or experience a very high level of deprivation and those who are not in those categories widened by 1.43, 1.42 and 1.39 per cent respectively.Kate Green MP, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said the government’s “chaotic” last-minute decision on exams and assessment over the past year had “opened the door to unfairness”.Research by the Sutton Trust found that independent, fee-charging schools are more likely than state schools to use a wide variety of assessments – including prior access to questions as well as “open book” tests, which allow pupils to refer to coursework notes.Parental pressure is also more prevalent at private schools, research has shown. Some 23 per cent of teachers at private schools said parents had approached or pressured them about their child’s grades this year, compared to just 11 per cent at the least affluent state schools, according to the Sutton Trust.Many pupils spent large parts of this year unable to study effectively due to a lack of appropriate devices, access to the internet or acceptable space to study – factors not included when assessing this year’s results.Sam Tuckett, senior researcher at the Education Policy Institute, said the impact of the attainment gap was likely to be felt among those trying to get places on the most popular courses at Russell Group universities.Recent analysis showed that just over two-thirds of applications to selective universities had resulted in offers by July, compared to almost three-quarters at the same stage last year. And the number of courses being offered by selective universities through clearing has fallen by a third, from 4,500 last year to only 3,000 this year.“We may see some universities unable to offer places to students who have just missed out on expected grades – especially when it comes to high-demand courses at selective universities,” said Mr Tuckett.“The clearing process could be even more competitive. The A-level results suggest that if you’re from a disadvantaged background, grades won’t have increased as much since last year on average – so you may be more likely to need to apply to university through clearing.”Educators and campaigners have expressed concerns that basing this year’s A-level results on teacher predictions rather than exams has left black students in particular at a disadvantage.Research shows that gaps indicating lower outcomes in 2020 for black African, black Caribbean and mixed white students relative to their white British counterparts have increased by between 1.85 and 2.97 percentage points in 2021.Lavinya Stennett, CEO and founder of The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise, said: “This form of assessment leaves room for teacher biases to determine a student’s worth. For black students in particular, grades will be predicted on the basis of assumed capabilities, stemming from generalised characteristics of their ethnic and socioeconomic background.”Meanwhile, education secretary Gavin Williamson joined the teaching unions to defend this year’s results amid concerns over grade inflation, calling on people to celebrate young people’s success during a difficult year.But influential Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chair of the Commons Education Committee, suggested that grade inflation was so “baked” into the system it could cause universities even more problems with admissions in the years ahead.He told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One: “I do think in the long term, because of the huge increase in As and A*s, that we need to look at our exam system in general.” More